A Fine Gold Thread
by Dark Tidings
Summary: Steve's puzzled by two of his teammates' attachment to a woman brought to the Tower after she is saved from a kidnapping attempt. Each question answered seems to bring up at least one more, causing him to delve into his own past and beliefs, as well as changing his still disapproving view of playboy Tony Stark.
1. Chapter 1

_Disclaimer: Marvel owns most of these characters. Just puttering about in their universe._

_Author's Note: Characters will be mostly based on Marvel's Cinematic Universe. For any character not yet introduced in Marvel movies, I'll draw either from comic canon or Norse mythology. There's potential for those who have been Avengers in comics to show up here. One major OC, although her viewpoint will not be used. The OC will have a relationship with an Avenger, but this isn't the main theme of the story. Story will contain slash relationships. Future sequel may be a crossover._

Steve Rogers emerged from the common floor kitchen with a stack of plates in his hands. He passed them to Bruce, letting the doctor begin filling each plate with pizza before passing it to one of the gathered Avengers. Even Tony was present, although the grease stains on his jeans testified to his day spent in his workshop. He was a bit surprised, as Tony was far more likely to skip meals if Pepper was out of town. With the engineer sprawled in his favorite chair trading off-color jokes with Clint, everyone except Thor was present.

Tony had just accepted a plate from Bruce when JARVIS muted the television to make an announcement. "Sir, Kate's set off her alert at highest danger zone."

The plate fell to the floor, shattering against the coffee table on the way down and spilling pizza on the lush carpet. "Ready the suit, J, and start hacking any cameras in her area for video or audio. Check biostats on both Kate and Drew, if he's with her." The man was heading for the suit platform as he rattled off orders for the A.I.

"Already underway, sir. The suit will be ready in forty-five seconds."

Steve stood, calling out after Tony. "Wait a minute, Tony. Is this Avenger business? Iron Man isn't supposed to go chasing off as a vigilante."

The cold expression turned on him made Steve want to shiver. Tony was volatile and always animated. To see him shut down so completely was unsettling. "Being a vigilante has nothing to do with me responding to this particular distress call. You can either gather the Avengers and come along or stay out of my way."

"We can't, Tony," he began, only to be interrupted by Clint hitting a button on the bar that opened a weapons compartment. He pulled out a bow and quiver, slipping them on before turning to the remaining team while Tony began the walk up to his launch platform with his suit assembling around him. The archer jogged behind him, calling out to hitch a ride.

Steve turned to Natasha for backup, but judging from the flicker of emotion on her face, she was equally baffled by Clint's instant response to Tony's invitation. Before he could question either of them, he heard the familiar sound of Iron Man taking off and whipped his head back to see the platform empty of both engineer and archer.

"What is so important about this Kate that he suited up and left within sixty seconds of JARVIS' announcement?" he asked Natasha and Bruce.

"You've met her, Steve. The woman who was overseeing the repairs on the Tower. She's been here a few times since then to visit Tony," Bruce answered.

Now he remembered. The use of the woman's first name had thrown him off, since he had only heard her employees call her by her surname. But connecting the dots made him grimace. She had indeed visited the Tower, closeted with Tony when she came and even spending the night several times over the past six months in his penthouse. All her visits had coincided with Pepper being out of town, so Steve had made it a point to avoid her completely. He had more respect for Tony Stark as a teammate than he'd guessed he would when he'd met him on the Helicarrier, but he didn't want to see evidence of the man living up to his playboy reputation.

His distaste evident on his face, he started to ask Bruce about her further, since the scientist had spent time in the workshop with them both. JARVIS had other plans, as he began broadcasting the camera footage on the television. It was all visuals, and grainy ones at best although JARVIS was obviously enhancing quality, but Steve felt his disgruntlement melt away as he watched a man and woman standing back to back as they were advanced upon by four men. The pair was outnumbered, yet engaged their attackers.

"JARVIS, have the police been notified?" Bruce asked, flinching as the woman allowed a blow to land in order to better land one of her own in return. Blood flowed from a cut on her cheek, but even in the poor video quality, Steve could see stubborn determination on her features. It reminded him of someone, though he couldn't quite put a name on whom.

The A.I. answered affirmatively as the woman's male companion landed a blow on an opponent's windpipe that made the man drop like a rock, grasping his throat. Another attacker fell after a vicious kick to the groin by the woman, which merited a sound of approval from Natasha, who was watching the fight clinically.

"How far away are Iron Man and Hawkeye?" Steve asked.

"Having a passenger is slowing flight somewhat," came the reply. "I estimate seven minutes to arrival." Next to the video footage, a timer began its rundown.

With proof in front of him that neither of the pair on the screen was defenseless, Steve felt they'd be able to hold out until either the police or Iron Man arrived. The companion downed his second opponent and turned to assist with the last man. As he did so, the woman jerked as if a blow had landed on her left shoulder, dropping to her knees. Recognizing the signs of a gunshot wound being received, he worried that would be seven minutes too long if guns were in the confrontation, especially as it indicated more than four attackers were involved.

Rage swept the man's features and his palm impacted the final attacker's face in a maneuver meant to kill instead of incapacitate. He reached down to drag the woman to her feet, shoving her behind him, putting his body between her and the direction the gunshot had come from. It proved to be a likely fatal decision. His body jerked, impact rocking him into the woman's shoulder and tumbling them both to the street.

She struggled out from under his weight, calling out in desperation to her companion. Steve was suddenly glad there was no audio as she crouched over him, left arm hanging uselessly as she began to drag the larger form toward what little protection a nearby car might offer from further gunshots. He looked at the timer, seeing five minutes left on the arrival estimate, and cursed himself that he'd not reacted as fast as Clint when a large form emerged into the camera's range, a pistol aimed at the woman's head.

Unheard words were exchanged as the man used the gun to force the woman to abandon her efforts to save her companion. A light-colored sedan pulled up and she was shoved roughly into the back, but not before Steve could see the blood that had begun to soak the back of her shoulder on the paleness of her winter coat. The gunman followed her into the back seat, slamming the door as the car sped away. The car turned a corner and was out of sight before the first police car came into view.

Visuals were replaced by a map grid, with a blinking green dot moving rapidly. "Is that Iron Man?" Steve asked.

"Negative, Captain Rogers. I will display him as well." A red dot appeared, moving far faster than the green one and not restricted to the street grid, changing course to intercept the green dot.

"How are you tracking the car so quickly?" he asked. He'd become far more familiar with technology while living in Stark Tower than he'd have expected he would, but he didn't think even JARVIS could track a random car so easily.

"Kate has a tracking implant imbedded behind her ear. When she activated her alert system to contact me, I activated her implant in return."

"Could you get us there if we suit up?" he asked, feeling guilty he'd not responded to the distress call as swiftly as two of the Avengers had. The woman shot and kidnapped, her companion likely dead, and his concern had been that it wasn't official Avengers' business.

"Of course, Captain Rogers. I suggest a ground vehicle, as it is unlikely there will be a safe place to land the quinjet. The car is entering an industrial area."

The kidnappers had obviously underestimated Iron Man's response time. By the time Steve, Bruce, and Natasha had arrived, Tony and Clint had disabled the guards outside the warehouse and from the sound of it, were rapidly disabling others further in. Relying on JARVIS to relay information since only three of the Avengers present had their ear pieces, they followed the A.I.'s directives until they found Iron Man working on dismantling an electronic door lock.

"Where's Hawkeye?" Steve asked.

"He found a way up into the ceiling. He's keeping an eye and arrow on the guy dumb enough to be holding Kate hostage." Tony finished with the lock, turning to the trio behind him. "Bruce, stay back if you can. We need Dr. Banner more than we need the big guy tonight."

Bruce nodded and Steve readied his shield. "You first, then me, with Widow following for backup behind our cover in case there's unexpected firepower in the room," he directed, falling into directing the rescue out of habit. Tony readied himself to blow the door, and with a crash, it was slammed off its hinges, with the billionaire using the bulk of his Iron Man armor to shield the others until a scan of the room indicated only two occupants. He stepped into the room to allow the others to follow.

Steve frowned as he saw the kidnapper drag the woman in front of him as a human shield, thrusting a gun to her head. If he'd had any doubt from the video that she'd been shot, there was no mistaking it now. Blood stained the caramel color of her coat, a large enough spread to tell him this needed to be ended quickly. He had to admire her fortitude, as she was still aware enough to raise her uninjured arm to grasp at the arm around her.

"Let the woman go. This only gets worse for you if she's hurt worse than she already is," he stated. He heard the Iron Man armor readying weaponry of some sort, but he didn't dare look to see what exactly it was. The kidnapper loomed desperate and on the edge of terror, but when he glanced back at the woman he was impressed to see that her green gaze was calm and assessing, as if she were waiting for a signal.

"I let her go, I die," the kidnapper managed, his voice cracking.

The mechanical voice of Iron Man made the man shudder. "You've got that backwards. You let her go, I might have mercy and let the good Captain take you down. Continue to use her as a shield, and death will be the most merciful thing I will let you experience."

Before Steve could try a more diplomatic reply, his attention was drawn to the woman's hand, which was moving in a countdown. When she reached the last finger, she slumped as if in a dead faint, her body weight wrenching her free of the man's hold as he was hit simultaneously by both an arrow and something from the Iron Man suit. On the floor, the woman rolled into the man's legs, knocking him to the ground in time for Steve to throw his weight on the man to prevent him from reaching the gun he'd dropped. The man beneath him began to scream, and Steve realized that the combination of the fall and being tackled had shoved the arrow through his shoulder, tearing the flesh. Apparently the screaming annoyed Natasha, who promptly knocked the man unconscious.

As Bruce entered the room, Clint dropped from the ceiling, joining Natasha in covering the door. Tony dropped to his knees beside the woman, his mask retracting as he spoke soothingly to her while Bruce began to cut away her coat to examine the gunshot wound. Steve realized he'd never heard the man speak so quietly to anyone, including Pepper. He also realized it wasn't English, but it didn't sound like French or one of the other languages he'd heard.

He heard Bruce interrupt the gentle flow of words. "I've done all I can here, Tony. She needs a hospital, and soon."

"No, no hospitals." Hearing the woman's steady, determined voice reassured him, but he hoped she'd see reason. No one walked away after losing that much blood.

"Kate, you have to go. I'm not qualified to handle this level of injury."

Tony laughed softly. "You'd be surprised," he said. "If you'll come home, no hospitals."

"Tony!" Bruce's stern admonishment held everything Steve would have said if the scientist hadn't beaten him to it.

"Trust me, Brucie. She has reasons not to want modern medicine mucking around." Tony eased Kate out of the remains of her coat as Steve started to argue the decision.

Clint beat him to speaking. "If she wants to miss out on SHIELD cleaning up here, you need to be long gone before they arrive." The archer ignored Steve's incredulous look and the sharp one from Natasha. "Nat and I can stay for a cleanup crew to get here, but Cap ought to ride along. He sucks at withholding information if he doesn't know why he should."

Steve's eyes narrowed at the insult, but it made him grit his teeth. Something had two of his team willing to bend to the woman's demand for no hospitals. Tony's insanity he was used to, but Clint's assent puzzled him. The archer hadn't moved into the Tower until the repairs had been completed, and he didn't remember him spending time with the woman like Bruce had. As Natasha nodded, content to trust Clint for now, he sighed and gathered up the torn and bloody coat. Bruce maneuvered himself to supporting the woman's good side, which left Tony to take the rear as Steve led the way back to the SUV they'd come in.

"Capsicle, you drive. I'll watch from above."

Deciding he was demanding a complete explanation as soon as they were safely back to the Tower, Steve agreed, sliding into the driver's seat as Tony and Bruce assisted their charge into the back seat and Bruce joined her.

As they drove away, he missed her soft inquiry to Bruce under the sound of Iron Man's takeoff. Her quiet sobs at the sad shake of Bruce's head he saw in the rearview mirror made him realize she must have asked about her male companion. Despite his disquiet about who this woman seemed to be, he felt relieved when he saw Bruce put an arm around her and let her cry on his chest. He gripped the steering wheel tightly, knowing that even if he'd reacted faster to the situation, saving the man hadn't been possible.

His need for answers paled in comparison to the heart-wrenching sounds of grief.


	2. Chapter 2

_Disclaimer: Marvel owns most of these characters. Just puttering about in their universe._

Tony had to admit he hadn't thought Steve would be able to let all the questions he obviously had go until Natasha and Clint returned, but he could tell the captain's patience was wearing thin by the time everyone was gathered on the floor he'd converted for common use. Kate was present too, her shoulder ably bandaged and one of his dress shirts borrowed to replace her own that had been ruined. She looked pale and exhausted, and he could still see evidence of the tears she'd shed on Bruce during the ride back to the Tower.

"Ask away, Capsicle," he quipped. "Just remember curiosity killed the cat."

"Why is she avoiding hospitals?" Steve asked. Natasha nodded, but he remembered Clint hadn't seemed surprised.

Tony glanced to Kate, who gave a tired nod, but he addressed JARVIS first. The A.I. probably was a better assessment of trustworthiness than even Natasha, in his own way. "J? What do you think?"

There was a pause Tony wasn't used to from the A.I. In a person, he'd have called it a thoughtful one, and it was something he'd started seeing from his creation after the episode with Vanko. "Captain Rogers has proven trustworthy, sir, and would likely prove a valiant ally for Kate's secret, and I think Dr, Banner will agree out of a sense of personal kinship. Agent Romanoff might share it with SHIELD, however, since she is more likely to put agency loyalty above the team's."

Tony snorted, thinking it was an apt description of all three Avengers, and Natasha merely raised an eyebrow at the assessment. Bruce looked thoughtful, and Steve puzzled but gave a half smile at being noted as trustworthy by JARVIS. "And Agent Barton?"

"Agent Barton already knows. If he's kept Kate's secrets this long, I'd say he's the most trustworthy in the room, in this matter at least."

Considering Clint's support from the beginning of tonight's distress call, Tony had to agree. He just wondered how a SHIELD assassin knew so much about Kate. He'd get to the bottom of that.

"Secret? Tony, she's not sick or something?" Steve sounded genuinely distressed, his blue gaze going to the woman curled up in what was usually Tony's chair.

"Sick? Not likely." Tony shook his head. "Kate's never been sick in her entire life. But I'm now more interested in exactly how Clint knows whatever he knows."

"Same way Nat knows what she knows about you, Tony." The archer shrugged. "Coulson assigned me to assess her for SHIELD recruitment the same way Nat was watching you. Instead of the Avengers Initiative, he wanted her for the Tesseract project."

"What the fuck? She doesn't have that sort of engineering or physics credential." Tony felt a surge of anger mixed with horror that Kate had been considered to be in the same facility Loki had taken Clint and Selvig from.

"No need to get all worked up about it." Kate's soft interjection had them all looking at her. "I declined when he couldn't assure me that there weren't weaponry applications being researched as well. Same reason I turned down the job with Stark Industries after I got my master's."

"Coulson wanted someone with a background in sustainable energy. Not all the scientists were working on the Phase II or even the physics of it." Clint's bearing was stiff, almost angry. "They recruited Dr. Amy Phillips instead."

"I did some of my graduate work for her. She died in the attack on the facility." Kate rubbed a hand across her face, grimacing at the reminder of her former professor.

Tony turned back to Clint, wondering just how much intel he'd given SHIELD on Kate. Apparently not everything, since Natasha didn't seem to even realize Clint had assessed her for the agency. "Just how did you go about assessing her? What did you tell SHIELD about her?" He knew the agitation in his voice was a giveaway to the others but he didn't care.

The archer spread both hands in a gesture of mock supplication. "Not a damn thing she didn't want them to know. Even so, Coulson edited it down further. Her file doesn't even link me as the agent who infiltrated to assess her. I thought at the time he was protecting me, but later on got the idea it was Kate he was protecting instead. I asked him why he flagged her as recruit only if she approached SHIELD, and he said it was a favor repaid, one that even Fury had to honor in his stead."

That intrigued Natasha as much as Tony, the engineer thought. The spy asked first. "Do you have any idea about what this favor was, Dr. Volkudottir?"

"I think you'd have to ask my godmother for the full details, but the short version is that my godmother is one of the first agents SHIELD ever had. She trained Agent Coulson." Kate accepted a mug of cocoa from Dummy, and Tony spared a thought to wonder what the robot was doing out of the lab.

"I suppose that's not surprising, considering my old man helped founded the agency," he said, some of the dots connecting. It was likely another reason SHIELD hadn't bothered with him until he was Iron Man.

"What's the connection between your father and her godmother?" Steve looked confused, and Tony considered needling him a bit. He'd caught the disapproving looks the other man had sent his way whenever Kate visited, and he guessed that the super soldier thought he was cheating on Pepper.

Before he could open his mouth, he caught the disapproving look Kate shot his way and figured that he wasn't that crass. "Kate's godmother is Peggy Carter," he said at last.

The tall blond closed his eyes, a painful expression on his face. "I didn't realize she'd been a SHIELD agent."

"She's been retired as an active agent since I was born, but still did training when she was requested. Agent Coulson was the last agent she trained before she fully retired."

"And how long have you known this?" Tony had only been told Peggy worked in military intelligence, unsurprising since she had been part of the project that created the super soldier serum, but he supposed SHIELD explained why a British woman had seemingly spent her entire career working with the American military.

"She told me some of it when I left college. The rest after the attack on New York, when she made me promise to stick to science for saving the world, if SHIELD approached me again." Kate sipped her cocoa. "She said losing Coulson felt like she lost her own child."

Tony was starting to get worried about Steve, who had finally taken a seat, his head in his hands. It was common knowledge on the Avengers that Steve had avoided seeking out Peggy Carter, the only remaining person from his time before the ice. No one had pressed the issue, considering it would probably be a painful meeting for them both. When Bruce moved to sit beside him and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, Tony turned his attention back to the others.

Although he knew what Kate's file at SHIELD said thanks to JARVIS' hacking, he figured he'd make Natasha share for Bruce and Steve's sake. She gave him a look that told him he was getting on her nerves, but that was such a common thing he was becoming immune to it.

"Dr. Katrin Margret Valkudottir, age 25. Holds two bachelor's degrees, one in accounting and one in environmental engineering. Holds an M.B.A. in Global Social Sustainable Enterprise. Two years ago completed her doctoral work to obtain her Ph.D. in management science and engineering, after changing schools from the university of Tokyo to CalTech." The redhead stopped to study Tony thoughtfully. "The transfer occurred almost immediately after your bout with palladium poisoning."

He shrugged. "She decided I needed more competent babysitters than I had."

"Smart woman." Natasha muttered. "Left school and founded her own company specializing in green architecture and planning. Obtained a significant loan from your own private funds, but the company has been profitable from the start, thanks to her partnership with Andrew Ellis, an architect who managed to follow her through the majority of her graduate education. SHIELD determined he was a paid bodyguard initially." She paused, giving Steve an almost sympathetic look. "Goddaughter of Peggy Carter, who befriended her mother, Valka Thorisdottir, an MIT professor who was working on Nordic translations for Howard Stark for his ongoing search for Captain America. Father unknown, suspected to be Howard Stark."

The blond's head snapped up, and Tony felt a surge of sympathy for him. His past was crawling all over tonight, although at least he'd redeem one thing for him in the end. Steve's voice was gruff as he ground out, "Suspected?"

"Stark senior sought a new translator during Professor Thorisdottir's pregnancy, right after it became obvious she was expecting. No demands or money ever were exchanged between them, but Peggy Carter helped raise the baby. He died when she was four without ever having seen her, as far as SHIELD can determine. All her expenses have been provided for by Tony Stark since he came into his inheritance after his parents' death."

"Tony, I'm so sorry," Steve began, but the engineer shook his head.

"Don't apologize for my father, Cap. He was only a shitty father to one offspring, not two."

Steve was staring back and forth between Tony and Kate, and for once Tony found the patience to remain silent while someone drew their conclusions about something. The suspicion that Kate was his sister had persisted because although her coloring was lighter, skin tan instead of olive, and hair a rich brown instead of black, she was rather undeniably a Stark, even down to the overachieving engineer bit.

Natasha made the connection first and hissed out something in Russian that sounded profane. Bruce nodded thoughtfully and Tony figured he'd likely already at least halfway made the connections but been too polite to remark on it. Clint looked bored with the discussion.

"Tony, please tell me Howard's her father. At least he's dead. I know you brag about being a playboy, but this is horrible. To ignore your own child, to let her grow up fatherless!" Steve had stood in his temper, advancing on Tony until he grabbed the shorter man by the shirt front.

"Kate isn't my sister, Steve," Tony said, making no move to free himself from the man's grip. "She's my daughter."

It did sort of surprise him to find himself flung away from Steve abruptly, and his surprise allowed him to fall over the coffee table, landing on his back and cursing as he cracked his head. Before he could right himself, he heard an outraged female shriek followed by a slap that sounded damned painful. He rolled, one hand going to the lump forming on the back of his head, to see Kate shoving at Steve's chest, her expression furious.

"You should be ashamed of yourself!" she shouted. Steve looked stunned, making no move to defend himself against her assault. "Do the math like Agent Romanoff did, you overgrown bully. I was born on his sixteenth birthday. The only person who bears any shame in me having no official father is my mother."

"He could have done something later," Steve tried to justify.

Kate changed from shoving to jabbing the super soldier's chest to punctuate her words. "He did, you idiot. He's been the best father I could ask for, so you can take your judgmental bullshit and shove it." Apparently having enough of the confrontation, she turned to Tony as he rose to his feet, immediately moving into the hug he offered.

"You need to get some rest," he said at last, realizing they were being stared at with various levels of surprise and curiosity by the others. "Your shoulder will heal faster if you sleep."

She nodded and turned toward the elevator that JARVIS summoned as soon as he'd mentioned rest. He followed her, pausing only to give one last command to the A.I. "J, finish rounding out their intel, if you would."

As the elevator doors closed, he turned to Kate. "You're not leaving the Tower for any reason until we figure out what they wanted you for," he said, voice deepening with emotion as he recalled how close he'd come to losing her. It showed just how much the attack and Drew's death had affected her that she nodded, instead of protesting that she could look after herself.

One thing was certain. Tony Stark would get to the bottom of who had hurt his daughter, by any means necessary.

_A/N: _

_And they still haven't learned why she wouldn't go to the hospital…_

_I know there are a lot of secret daughter stories out there, but this idea had been brewing and demands to be written, to the point it was causing writer's block for my HP story!_


	3. Chapter 3

_Disclaimer: Marvel owns most of these characters. Just puttering about in their universe._

Steve had learned over the last few months at Stark Tower that waiting on a response from JARVIS was especially disconcerting because you had no expression to watch, and since it wasn't a telephone conversation, it was hard to break the habit of wanting to look at the one supposed to be speaking. Standing there with his cheek stinging and almost wishing he could creep off to his room to hide, he aimed for patience. He'd made a fool of himself enough as it was tonight.

Bruce had no such qualms. "JARVIS? I'm assuming that the paternity issue isn't why Kate is avoiding hospitals? They'd have no reason to run such a test."

"You are correct, Dr. Banner. Sir and Kate have spent many years keeping her healing ability off the record of any medical establishment."

"Healing ability?" the scientist questioned.

"It is not as impressive as your own ability as the Hulk or as fast as Captain Rogers, but based on prior data, Kate's shoulder should be back to normal within 72 hours of the injury." The A.I. paused for a moment. "Although we may need to add an extra day to that, as she tore out several stitches when she attempted to push the captain."

That had Bruce rising to his feet. "I can go stitch it back up," he offered.

"Thank you, sir, but no need. Sir is quite adept at stitches and does a better job when it's not himself he's working on. But if he is in need of assistance, I shall let you know."

The doctor sighed and returned to his seat on the couch. Steve found Clint staring at him, expression cold, and felt himself flush darkly with shame that he'd escalated the situation with Tony to the point an injured woman had felt it necessary to physically attack him, despite her own injury. It reminded him of something he managed to mumble toward the room as he sat heavily on the couch. "She's really strong."

"We believe that is related to the healing factor. I do not think she could spar equally with you, sir, but she could easily stand her ground with Agent Barton or Romanoff. The combination is why her godmother was highly concerned that SHIELD would seek her out."

Clint snorted. "Stand her ground and probably win a few rounds," he muttered.

Natasha shot him a sharp look. "Just how much did you leave out of that report?"

"Actually, I included her self-defense training. Coulson deleted it." The archer shrugged. "For the record, all of her defense training has been done in private, which is why he was able to do that. Her partner, the man who died tonight, is a known practitioner of Krav Maga, and he has drilled with her constantly since he became her bodyguard when she was eighteen."

The redhead nodded, looking thoughtful. "She did seem familiar with the style in the video tonight."

Steve remembered the vicious groin kick and decided he might want to research what Krav Maga was. It had looked a lot closer to boxing or street fighting than the martial arts he'd seen the two assassins practice in the gym. He wondered if he should feel lucky she'd opted for a slap and shoving, rather than what he'd likely deserved.

"JARVIS, do they know why Kate has these abilities?" Bruce asked.

The A.I. didn't answer immediately, and the pause was so long that Steve was fairly certain he'd paused to speak to Tony before speaking. "Kate is a mutant. She has never been registered, as she wasn't at Xavier's school when it was invaded by the military and was not allowed to return afterward. Sir felt the facility had proven unsecure to trust anyone finding out there was a Stark with mutant abilities. She attended the summer after she turned twelve and then again at thirteen, but by the next summer had begun her university education."

"Are rapid healing and increased strength her only abilities?" Natasha asked. Steve had to admire her for sticking to the most pertinent issues. He was still trying to comprehend that the military invaded a school, no matter what type of children attended it. SHIELD had given him an overview of the mutant situation, but it had concentrated on the adults and the disastrous attempt at a "cure" for the X-gene.

"They are the only two that the Avengers need to be concerned with." Although polite, JARVIS' tone seemed to consider no objections to his statement.

"Did Tony say that?" the spy asked.

"Sir told me to share any information I felt you needed to know."

"And how do you know we don't need to know the rest?" Natasha seemed as close to flustered as Steve had ever seen her. Trust that it took a computerized intelligence to manage it.

"If you wish to know more, you may ask Kate herself. Will that be all for tonight?"

The snarky reply from the A.I. made Clint snort with laughter and left the rest obviously feeling a bit shocked. Clint thanked JARVIS. There was an audible click over the system JARVIS used to communicate, which reminded Steve of a person hanging up the phone on a conversation they were done with. He had no doubt any requests for something other than more information about Kate would be replied to, but he wouldn't be surprised if the A.I. pretended deafness if they persisted.

"I suppose he's right. It's not like we have to know it all tonight," he said. "We don't know every single secret of each other's yet, and she's not an Avenger."

He thought Natasha might object at first, but then she shrugged. "I'm going to shower," the woman said, heading for the elevator, which opened before she got there, confirming Steve's suspicion that JARVIS was still paying attention.

Clint called out for her to hold the elevator, but turned to Steve. "Normally it's Tony or me that makes a giant ass of ourselves, Cap. If you're a smart man, you'll do some apologizing in the morning." With that admonishment, he joined his partner in the elevator and the doors closed.

Steve sank onto the couch, tilting his head back and flinging an arm across his face. "I screwed up tonight, didn't I, Bruce?"

The scientist chuckled softly. "If Clint's advising you to apologize, you certainly did. But I don't think the damage is irreparable, at least not with Tony. With Kate, I'm not sure, but usually when you insult a woman's father and she takes offense, forgiveness takes a while and a lot of groveling." Steve heard him rise from the couch. "I'm going down to the lab for a bit, then up to bed. You should get some rest yourself."

The super soldier waited until he'd heard the elevator doors open and close again before he uncovered his eyes and stared at the ceiling, tempted to go to the gym to see if he could lose his embarrassment in working out. But instead he rose and headed for the stairs to head down a level to his own floor and bed. Tomorrow might be a long day when it would start out with apologies.

* * *

Steve entered the kitchen, intent on starting breakfast for the early risers, only to be surprised to find Kate and Tony already there. He had no idea really of Kate's morning routine, but seeing Tony up before noon without a crisis or Pepper physically dragging him to a Stark Industries meeting was unusual. The engineer obviously hadn't pulled an all-nighter either, as he looked like he'd gotten some sleep for once. His clothes were clean and unwrinkled, and Steve noted that Kate had borrowed one of the man's many band T-shirts.

They'd both looked up from their mostly empty plates when he gave a cautious greeting. Tony smiled in his usual fashion, but Kate just glanced at him before rising and scooping her mug off the table.

"I've got some calls to make," she directed at Tony.

Tony rose as well, giving her a brief one-armed hug. "Let JARVIS make any that don't need to be personal."

She nodded, and with a pointedly cool look in Steve's direction, padded on bare feet toward the balcony outside the living room. It would be cool out there in the early October morning, but he wasn't about to point that out. Tony watched her go and then collected both of their plates and carried them to the sink.

"There are pancakes left, if you want to add them to whatever you're making for the others."

"Blueberry?" Steve asked, inspecting the plate by the stove.

"Yeah. Kate's not really that much more domestic than me, but she's got a few favorites she does superbly. Drew was the cook of the pair."

Steve began to assemble ingredients to add omelets, bacon, and sausage to the waiting pancakes, taking note of the tea kettle already in place on the back burner. He guessed Kate must be a tea drinker, like Bruce.

"How is she this morning?" he asked, glancing at Tony to find the man's attention on the balcony and its occupant.

"Displaying that there are ways to handle devastation that don't involve crawling into a bottle, which is a first for a Stark," Tony replied. "They'd been married for seven weeks."

Catching the spatula he'd nearly dropped in his surprise, Steve felt his heart wrench for the woman. Bad enough if she'd lost a dear friend and business partner, but they were still newlyweds. "That was the weekend you disappeared and let us all think you'd spent it being drunk on a beach in the Caribbean, wasn't it?"

"Yeah. I was actually upstate. She didn't want something big or flashy."

Thinking that over as he attended to the breakfast cooking, Steve found it hard to imagine Tony fitting in to something quiet and sedate, but he was still struggling to imagine the man as a father. The glimpses he was getting beneath the normal flashy personality his teammate presented even to the team were interesting, and he wished he'd begun seeing them under better circumstances. "Natasha said SHIELD thought he was originally her bodyguard?"

"Hired him myself, when she decided that she wanted to attend graduate school away from home. He hadn't been able to afford to finish his own graduate work and seemed pretty damned loyal. He refused payment for anything but his school expenses after the first two years, but obviously I had better judgment for her than for myself." Tony moved away from staring at the balcony, going to refill his coffee mug and leaning against the sink to watch Steve cook. "When I hired him, I asked him if he'd be willing to die to protect her, you know."

"He sounds like he was a good man," Steve said. "And I'm sorry about how I acted last night."

"Don't worry about it. It's not like I sat you down and gave you the whole story when things were calm."

"That doesn't excuse me acting like that. When we first met, I said a lot of stupid things. I was so alone in this time and wanted you to be a link to my past. But I sometimes still assume things I shouldn't where you're concerned."

"I understand you missing my old man…"

Steve interrupted him before he could finish the thought. "It's not about Howard anymore, Tony. It hasn't been really since I moved in here and you showed off customized floors and gyms and everything else to make us all feel not just comfortable but welcome here." He smiled hesitantly at the shorter man. "That's the side of you that's also Kate's father, isn't it? Taking care of all of us even if you weren't sure we'd accept or appreciate it."

Tony shrugged, but Steve could tell by the look in his eyes that he appreciated the comparison. "I don't need any apologies, Cap, but you'll probably need a dozen or so before Kate warms up to you."

"I'll apologize every day if necessary. Even if what I'd said had been true, I shouldn't have started that in front of her, especially with all she'd been through." He turned the heat off under the eggs, remembering the strength behind the slap and then the shove. "Was her shoulder okay? JARVIS said she'd torn the stitches when she laid into me."

"I had to redo three of them, but they're more for my comfort and Bruce's. She's not normally much for physical confrontation."

"I'll do my best not to incite a repeat. Is there anything I can do to help today?"

Tony didn't answer and Steve realized the other man was shaking, gaze back on the balcony. He turned to see what was wrong. Kate was talking, an earpiece clearly visible, but had her arms curled around her knees on the lounge, tears running down her face.

"Goddammit, Steve. I took such fucking extremes to protect her, and it still wasn't good enough. This wasn't ever supposed to happen to her." The dark-haired man slapped his mug on the island so hard it cracked the ceramic.

Steve reached out to put a comforting hand on Tony's shoulder, waiting until brown eyes turned to meet his own blue ones. "You've been protecting her with a pretty small number of people, Tony. At least now you've got all the Avengers to back you up."

"Captain America protecting the Stark Princess?"

"No. Steve Rogers protecting his friend's only daughter."

"Funny enough, I like that scenario better. Steve Rogers was a scrappy little bastard."

Glad to see some of the rage and grief recede from Tony's eyes, he nodded, letting his hand fall away from the engineer's shoulder to finish off breakfast. He felt immensely relieved that at least between him and Tony, things were okay again.

_A/N:_

_I've seen a variety of timelines for the X-Men movies. For the sake of sanity, I'm placing them as starting in 2000 when the first film was released, with the other events following over the next 2 years, so might be a bit AU for film or comic canon. This means that Kate visited Xavier's school the summer before the events in X1 and was present the next summer as well (which would have been around the time that Rogue arrives). She would be younger than the main teenagers of the movie, and my timeline will have her being a year or so younger than Kitty Pryde, who is probably the youngest of the kids that makes it to the facility in X3 to rescue Leech. So that would make Kitty 14 for X1, 15 for X2, and 16 for X3. So she'd be 26 at the time of this story, just to bring that frame of reference in. Two or three of the younger X-Men will at least pop into the story for a chapter or four later on._

_When I originally conceived this story, I intended to base Kate off an existing female Avenger. They either didn't have the abilities I wanted – or were far too powerful for an OC (in my opinion). By the end of this tale, you'll figure out why the specific abilities (and yes, JARVIS is keeping secrets from the team as to the full extent of them), so bear with me. _


	4. Chapter 4

_Disclaimer: Marvel owns most of these characters. Just puttering about in their universe._

Two days after Kate's kidnapping, SHIELD was no closer to solving who had been behind it than they'd been the first day. Tony couldn't precisely blame them since his own research hadn't turned up any leads. They'd arrived to rescue Kate before any of the men could mention why she'd been taken – and why Drew had been considered expendable. It was enough to make the engineer frustrated in a way he'd never been before. The only consolation he currently had was that Kate was safe in a Tower full of Avengers.

He'd recruited all of them except Bruce to pack up her remodeled brownstone in East Harlem. Bruce had been happy to stay behind, just in case, since Kate had begun immersing herself in work and was a far quieter Stark lab mate to have around. Tony had figured if the Hulk wasn't enough to keep Kate safe, nothing was.

When he'd rebuilt the Tower, he'd considered giving each Avenger an entire floor to themselves, until Pepper pointed out most would feel lost in that much space. So instead he'd assigned a pair to each floor, leaving Bruce with his own floor with half the space assigned to a smaller version of the larger lab he had further down the Tower. Custom decoration for everyone but Thor had been easy to sort out, and wiser heads than his had cautioned waiting on Thor's half of the floor shared with Steve until the demigod returned from his sojourn on Asgard.

The demigod would end up with a floor of his own now, because while Tony understood his adult daughter needed space of her own beyond the penthouse he'd be happy to share with her as well as Pepper, he wasn't about to have her on a floor away from the Avengers. With Steve's floor immediately below the common floor and the two assassins just below him, it kept Kate fairly close by everyone.

He'd just supervised the last load of boxes to the proper floor and watched as Clint and Natasha headed off saying they were headed for the floor with the shooting and archery ranges. Deciding to go check on Kate to make sure she took a break from the paperwork and blueprints she'd been plowing through, he quizzed JARVIS as to her location.

"She went to the gym floor after eating lunch with Dr. Banner. Something about going stir crazy being cooped up inside," the A.I. answered.

"Want to tag along?" Tony asked Steve, figuring it would give the super soldier something more in common with Kate. The blond nodded, detouring into his bedroom to grab an already packed gym bag. As they entered the elevator, Tony eyed the bag. "Do you keep one of those packed all the time?"

"It's just clean clothes. I keep my gym clothes downstairs and the laundry service delivers them back there."

"Nice not to have to trek back up to your room just to shower, isn't it?"

Steve nodded as the elevator reached the gym floor and followed him out. Tony had expected to find Kate running on the track that encircled the entire floor, but instead she was in gloves, working over a punching bag with both fists and legs. She'd obviously borrowed from his gear, wearing an Iron Man tank top and shorts and sparring gloves bearing his initials.

"Huh. Kinda glad I've got the reinforced gear in here for you," he commented to Steve.

The super soldier was quiet for a moment. "Should she be boxing yet?"

"If she were me or Clint, probably not. Maybe not even Natasha, although I'd bet she'd try. J, have you scanned her shoulder since she started?"

"Continuously, sir. She had me scan it yesterday and it was completely healed then."

"Sounds like you might end up with a new sparring partner, Cap," Tony remarked, then called out to his daughter. She caught the bag and then turned, rotating the shoulder that had been injured, giving both men a view of skin devoid of any sign of the gunshot wound, including scar tissue. From the intake of breath he heard Steve make, the other man hadn't quite believed how fast Kate healed until now. He figured he might want to ask her when it had sped up this much, since he'd expected another day or so.

"Want to spar?" she asked.

Tony chuckled when Steve immediately shook his head. "Do you want to actually spar or do you want me to pad up so you can beat the crap out of me?" he asked.

She shrugged. "Whichever you prefer."

As he made his way over to change, Kate began stretching, her back to the area where the residents of the Tower changed by the storage lockers. No one really bothered with the private changing areas unless they were stripping completely naked, and he wasn't sure Natasha would care even then. Pepper never used the gym.

He smirked as he watched Steve approach and settle on the bench by Kate's water bottles. The blond had managed several quietly polite conversations since his initial apology, although both still seemed uncomfortable around each other. He figured that'd bleed away as they shared a floor, especially since he fully intended to volunteer Steve for any and all redecorating and unpacking Kate needed a second pair of hands for.

"What did he mean about padding up?" he heard Steve ask at last.

"Well, if he wants to just box, then the usual. Gloves, headgear, mouthpiece. If he wants to play sparring dummy, he'll go for full gear. Shin guards, kick shield, and so forth."

"Groin guard!" Tony called out, causing Kate to snort.

"It was just the one time," she called back.

"Yet I still remember it like it was yesterday." Tony was opting for light gear. Kate could still grapple and throw him without much risk, although he wasn't going to volunteer for any kicks coming his way. It would give Steve a better demonstration that she wasn't fragile and then someone else could stand up to the rougher parts of her workout he'd prefer not to volunteer for on a regular basis. He wasn't kidding about remembering why he owned a groin guard for sparring with Kate.

"They said you've trained in a martial art I hadn't heard of," Steve commented.

"Krav maga. It's not a whole lot different from what you do, really," Kate replied

"Other than boxing, I hadn't really trained formally until I came here."

"I'll have JARVIS queue up some videos for you to look over. If it interests you, I'd be happy to train with you. I think you'll like it, because it started out as military training."

Tony took his time pulling on his gloves, giving them time to finish the conversation, grinning to himself. Kate might share his inventing streak and a calmer nature far closer to Bruce than any of the other Avengers, but he figured she and Cap would be best of friends inside a month if they got over their rocky start quickly enough.

"Military? Yeah, I'd like to see those videos. I guess it would help for you to have someone to practice with, and I'm here more than Natasha is."

"I'd prefer to work with you," Kate's voice turned cool, causing Tony to turn. She was already headed into the ring, looking at him expectantly. Filing away the chilly response towards the Black Widow, he crossed over to the ring, letting Steve finish off his gloves before joining his daughter.

* * *

At the end of two hours in the ring with Kate, Tony was sore, sweaty, and taking a break to encourage Steve once again to be Kate's sparring partner. She was sitting against one of the posts, arms resting on her raised knees, and breathing in a way that told him she was attempting to meditate. He wasn't sure how to encourage her to express her grief properly. It had never been an area of expertise for him, but he knew his daughter would refuse to talk to a counselor as vehemently as he would. It seemed to be a Stark trait to work through grief instead of talk through it.

He nodded slightly at Steve's concerned glance toward Kate just as the elevator dinged and Pepper emerged. He flashed the redhead a welcoming grin, which faded as he registered her enraged expression. "What's wrong, Pep?" he asked, swinging through the ropes to drop to the floor and start her way. He looked back for a moment to assure himself that Steve had climbed into the ring to go to Kate, before focusing back on Pepper.

"What's wrong? You missed a board meeting again, just to flit around in the gym here?" They'd reached each other, halfway between ring and elevator. "I at least expected to find you buried in some worthwhile project, not bouncing around like it's recess time."

It was not the best comparison, and despite the fact that he hadn't filled Pepper in yet about what had happened to Kate and Drew, his temper flared. "I was under the impression that hiring you as CEO meant I didn't have to show up to every board meeting anymore. There are things far more important than sitting in a room going over financial statements."

"This one was important! We had to deal with the leak from R&D that you and Bruce exposed last week. They wanted assurance that the technology leaked wasn't irreplaceable for the next line of medical products."

"And you couldn't manage to reassure them of that? I doubt any of them know or care about the actual technology and how it fits into the rest of the company."

"It's the appearance of it. You're the face of everything technological in the company, Tony. I needed you there today."

"I wasn't available." He frowned. "In fact, JARVIS informed you I wouldn't be available."

"And I told him that wasn't acceptable."

"To be fair, Miss Potts, I did reply that acceptable or not, Sir was not going to attend the meeting since he was needed here." Tony was surprised at the outright disapproval present in the A.I.'s voice.

It seemed to set Pepper off again, and her voice rose to the near-shriek Tony remembered from the rooftop after the Vanko incident at the Expo. "Needed? To play in the gym?"

"We were moving Kate's things from her brownhouse to the Tower."

"And that couldn't wait? Or hire moving men?" Pepper sputtered. "Wait! Why is Kate in the Tower? She's not part of the Avengers. She doesn't even work for Stark Industries."

"She was kidnapped two days ago. We decided to move her here for her own safety."

Just when Tony's temper was about to ignite, the redhead found her compassion. "I'm sorry that happened. Is she okay?" She glanced to where Kate still sat in the ring, Steve on her far side. Tony noticed the brunette had raised her head, her expression unreadable as she met Pepper's gaze.

"She was able to contact me and we got to her less than an hour after the abduction." He sighed softly. Pepper had worked with Kate's company on multiple occasions, although the two women seemed to have a purely business relationship with none of the bonding he'd expected from two driven businesswomen. "Drew Ellis was killed when she was taken."

"Oh." Pepper's attention returned to Tony, and something shifted in her eyes. "Why did she call you instead of the police, Tony? Why our security to protect her instead of her own?"

He'd intended to tell Pepper when she'd gotten back, something Kate had agreed to, although she'd seemed reluctant. "You've never said it, Pep, but you suspect like everyone else who Kate is."

She nodded slowly. "So it's true? She's your sister?"

Tony shook his head. "No. But she is a Stark."

He watched Pepper glance back and forth, just as the Avengers had, making the connections swiftly. "She's too old to be yours."

He barely stopped himself from laughing at the denial. "I was far too young to become a father, but I promise you, it's not only possible, but it happened."

"Why would you hide it from me? Didn't you trust me?" Her voice cracked, and he felt the same guilt that had flickered over the last thirteen years she'd worked for him flare up briefly. It had become stronger since they'd begun their relationship, but he'd decided early on that she would be told when they married, or sooner only if Kate consented.

"It wasn't a matter of trust, Pepper," he said gently. "The fewer people who knew, the less dangerous it was to her. But it seems all that precaution didn't do a damn bit of good, depending on who took her and killed Drew to do it. I'm telling you now because keeping her safe has changed from keeping her secret to something more intensive."

"Is this why you said that a relationship with you meant no children?" A hint of bitterness joined the hurt in her voice. "Were you protecting the Stark inheritance for her?"

Tony reached out to touch her, flinching as she jerked away. "There'd be enough to go around for a dozen children, and you know it. But it's not an issue because I can't father children anymore. I told you that if we married, and you wanted them, adoption was the best option."

"I thought you were being anti-fatherhood and would change your mind, maybe."

That surprised him, as he hadn't truly seen Pepper as the maternal type. She'd never seemed to show any interest in children, although to be fair, it wasn't like there were many around for him to have observed her with. She was an only child like he was, so there weren't even any nieces or nephews. "Didn't you ever wonder why you never had to deal with any actual paternity suits?"

"There should have been, yes," she answered softly. "The odds are astronomical that it never happened."

"I had it taken care of when I was twenty-one. The palladium poisoning just made sure it was absolutely permanent."

"Taken care of…" It wasn't a question, but more the redhead trying to absorb the matter-of-fact way he'd referred to his vasectomy. "I can't deal with this right now." She whirled into the still open elevator and jammed her finger on the button, closing the doors before he could follow her. The elevator started up. He figured letting her stew over it was a bad idea, so he tossed his gloves to one side and jogged to the stairs.

_A/N:_

_Now, palladium poisoning doesn't necessarily lead to infertility. However, it also doesn't do the fancy skin patterns it did in the IM2 movie, so I'm opting for some artistic license combined with the fact that there are studies done on those who work around dental fillings (which contain several types of heavy metals) and an increased instance of infertility (for female technicians anyway)._


	5. Chapter 5

_Disclaimer: Marvel owns most of these characters. Just puttering about in their universe._

Steve had been utterly relieved when Pepper had fled the gym and Tony had followed. Aside from his own general discomfort at witnessing conflict between the couple, he didn't think Kate needed to deal with it. He might not know her body language as well as he did his teammates', but she'd tensed at Pepper's first angry words and only gotten worse as it progressed. She had sat for a moment, breathing deeply, before asking if he'd help her get her belongings sorted out.

No stranger to grief himself, he recognized her continued attempt to keep herself distracted. But he'd promised Tony and protecting someone wasn't just about being willing to be a bodyguard. Sometimes it was about helping them avoid getting lost inside the darkness in their own head.

He'd been pleasantly surprised to find that Kate's personal things were far closer to his own tastes than the sleek modernism he recalled from Tony's penthouse. She'd shrugged and said she liked furniture with a bit of life to it. Then he'd remembered it was his night to figure out something for supper and she'd offered to help as long as he remembered her culinary talents usually involved the use of moving items from freezer to microwave.

Reaching the common floor kitchen, she gamely took the vegetables he passed her and headed to the sink. Eyeing one of them, she arched a brow. "How many of them actually eat Brussels sprouts when you cook them?"

"Surprisingly, everyone except Tony and Natasha." He looked up from the trio of chickens he was getting ready to roast. "Leave them on the stalk and just pull off any bad leaves. There's a thing around here somewhere that we use to serve them still on stalk."

She nodded and proceeded to inspect the little vegetables carefully, making him smile before he returned to his own task, glad the kitchen was equipped with multiple restaurant sized ovens. It took all of them on nights someone cooked for the full team.

As he was sliding the chickens into the oven, he heard the elevator ding. Bruce emerged, smiling as he entered. "I came to see if you needed any help, but it seems you've got it under control."

Steve shrugged. "We can always use another set of hands. Kate's sworn to only handle the basics."

The brunette woman surprised him by a quiet laugh as she sat the Brussels sprouts on the counter for him or Bruce to work with. "I'll get all the salad components washed up if someone can locate a big bowl for me."

Bruce opened a lower cabinet and fished out the requested bowl and the decorative stand for the sprouts as well. "How about I peel potatoes and get them started for potato salad? That'll go over well."

"Good idea. I'm going to get some bread done up since you two are helpfully taking all the veggies," Steve replied. "JARVIS? Can you play something soft?"

The A.I. didn't reply, but instead started a soft jazz song and Steve smiled. It was ironic that sometimes the one "person" who understood him best in this confusing future was the high tech artificial intelligence in the Tower.

"Spyro Gyra? Good taste, J," Kate remarked.

"I have used several of your playlists for the Captain after he was thinking all modern music was what Sir prefers to listen to." Steve thought JARVIS sounded a bit smug. "Most of your taste is similar."

Kate glanced at Steve and he just shrugged with a slight smile. JARVIS was correct, although he hadn't realized the A.I. was using someone else's choices in music to introduce him to modern styles. "I like the music that uses regular instruments better than the rock stuff Tony blares," he admitted.

"Sometimes the louder stuff has its place. I can see why he uses it with Iron Man especially. I have some playlists that are blaring like that for when I need to drown out my own thoughts for a while," Kate commented.

"I suppose I could see that." Steve paused in wrapping the sprouts for the oven, glancing between Kate and Bruce. "Can I ask something personal about your dad?"

He suddenly found intense green eyes focused on him and fought off the urge to squirm. "Depends on what it is."

"What he said to Pepper earlier, about children and the poisoning. Did you know about all that?"

She looked away, sighing softly. "I knew he was pretty certain he'd never have more kids after he mentioned it when I was ten or so. Took me a few years to realize why he was so certain, but I never asked to be sure. And the palladium poisoning was pretty bad. He damn near died before SHIELD quit spying and analyzing him and coughed up Howard's old notes so he could create a new element for the arc reactor."

"Tony had a vasectomy? When?" Bruce asked, frowning. "Why?"

Kate was quiet for a moment, popping a cherry tomato in her mouth and chewing it before she answered. "He told Pepper earlier that he was twenty-one. So he must have spent a major bribe to find a doctor who'd do that kind of surgery on a man that young. As for why, I don't know. I'd guess that something bad happened. That's usually what thrusts him into making life changing decisions."

"What do you mean about SHIELD spying on him?" Steve asked. It stirred the uneasy feeling he had had about SHIELD since Fury had lied about the Tesseract project being for energy rather than weapons.

The angry look that kindled on Kate's face reminded him of when he'd offended her, and he was glad it wasn't his fault this time. "Agent Romanov was sent in as a legal assistant at Stark Industries to analyze and profile my father. The palladium he used to power his arc reactor was poisoning him, and SHIELD knew about it. They even had information that he needed to save his own life, but they held onto it until they'd finished their damned head games and he'd made his life spiral out of control."

Steve felt his own temper stir. He couldn't imagine why the agency would watch a man dying while they held the potential cure in their hands. Before he could reply as such, the elevator dinged again, discharging Natasha and Clint. They were all the way to the counter before Steve focused on Kate again and realized she had turned that angry green gaze on the redheaded spy.

Not taking her eyes off Natasha, Kate continued her story. "JARVIS had been locked down and couldn't contact me to tell me my father was dying. Pepper missed all the signs, and his supposed best friend knew about the poisoning but was more concerned with his own standing with the military while Dad deteriorated than the fact that dying could cause the behaviors he was seeing. And then the nice Agent here," Kate's voice was acidic with sarcasm, "she turned in her analysis of my father's potential for the Avenger's Initiative."

"It was okay then, since he's part of the team, right?" Steve asked, wishing he'd done more than skim Tony's file now. His early discomfort with his late friend's son had led him to not want the dirty details of a self-proclaimed playboy.

"Iron Man, yes. Tony Stark, not recommended. They wanted the suit but not the man inside it. So, Agent Romanov, does your textbook narcissism still stand now that you've actually seen inside the public persona my father prefers to use? After he was nearly crushed keeping SHIELD's flying fortress in the air, and then flew a nuclear warhead SHIELD was responsible for launching into outer space without any guarantee he'd return?"

It surprised Steve to see a guilty look flit across Natasha's face, but it was quickly hidden. "It isn't often that I fail in a profiling task," the redhead admitted. "And I have offered my apologies for my actions then to Tony. He accepted. He would have been an excellent spy had SHIELD been smart enough to recruit him young, but they believed the playboy persona was the true one for too long."

The brunette finally looked away from Natasha and nodded slightly. "My father has been hiding behind masks since he was barely out of diapers," she said quietly. "JARVIS, unlock the family picture archive and share a few with my father's friends." She closed her eyes, tearing lettuce for the salad and taking deep, calming breaths.

The four Avengers' attention was drawn to the screen in the kitchen as an image of a very young Tony was displayed, carefully cradling a newborn to his thin chest. The photo displayed so clearly to Steve that Tony had been almost as scrawny as himself as a youth – and that he was fiercely in love with the baby girl in his arms, regardless of being sixteen years old.

The picture changed, showing Tony in graduation cap and gown, flanked by a man unfamiliar to Steve – but a woman that caused a painful surge of loss in him. Peggy held a baby whose small head was covered in a riot of dark curls, but Tony clasped the baby's tiny hand in a victory symbol. "Who's the man in the photo?" he asked.

"The original Jarvis. He was the butler for the Stark family for years before my father was born. He died when I was five." Kate's expression was mournful. "I think he was the closest to an actual father that he ever had. Howard and Maria didn't even bother to show up for the MIT graduation."

That fact struck Steve, who experienced a painful sense of disappointment in Howard that he surpassed the other smaller disappointments he'd had towards his old friend. There had been so many small clues slipped out casually in conversation with Tony, but here was photographic proof that the Stark family hadn't been a family at all.

"It's strange, seeing Tony so young, and without the goatee," Clint commented. Steve had to agree with him. The carefully trimmed facial hair was as much a part of Tony as the dim glow they glimpsed beneath his tank tops and band shirts.

The pictures began flicking, showing Tony at various points in time with a tiny, but growing, Kate. It made the contrast with the MIT graduation more obvious, as Tony had seemed to find ways to be at all the major milestones of Kate's childhood. It amazed Steve that they'd kept Kate's Stark paternity mostly secret for so long. JARVIS paused at another graduation photo, but this one had Kate sandwiched between Tony and a young male, with two women flanking the males, one of them Peggy Carter. The age difference on his old love was heartbreaking, but he had to admit she looked beyond proud of her goddaughter.

"Your graduation?" he asked Kate, who had kept shuffling veggies into the salad without really looking up until he commented. She looked up and the smile that appeared reminded him of Tony when he'd just completed a project that was supposed to be impossible.

"The first college graduation, yeah, at CalTech. The other two are my mother and older brother."

"Speaking of older brothers, Kate, you should go greet yours," JARVIS interrupted.

"He's here?" Kate tossed the broccoli into the salad and grabbed a towel to dry off her damp hands.

"Mr. Volkuson is in the elevator and arriving right now." The elevator dinged as JARVIS finished speaking, doors opening to reveal a man that appeared a bit travel worn. Kate darted over to him, and he dropped his duffel bag just in time to catch her in his arms.

"Katie-flower," the newcomer murmured. "I got here as fast as I could. JARVIS tracked me down in the backside of nowhere and even arranged a private plane when it looked like I'd have to wait another 12 hours to get a flight out of Sylhet."

"I'm so glad you're here," Kate murmured, then burst into tears. With an apologetic look at the four curious Avengers, the man led Kate away to the far side of the common room, settling with her in one of the oversized armchairs in the television area.

Feeling uncomfortable with staring at the crying woman and her comforting brother, Steve turned his attention back to those in the kitchen. Clint was still watching the two in the chair, until he was elbowed by Natasha.

"Her file doesn't mention the brother."

The archer shrugged. "Blame Coulson, not me. Plus he didn't turn up until they were teenagers. Their mother had given him up for adoption. Tony helped him legally change his surname so the sibling bit would be noticeable, even if neither of them has ever spent more than a few weeks in their mother's homeland. Plus he travels a lot for his work."

"Mr. Volkuson is an accomplished author and journalist," JARVIS added. "His latest trip was to Bangladesh for research for a historical novel. While he is not a Stark by blood, Sir has always instructed me to consider him family to the same extent that Kate is."

"Wait a minute. Is he Jonatan Volkuson?" Bruce asked.

"You are correct, Dr. Banner," JARVIS replied.

At the questioning looks from Steve and Natasha, Bruce explained. "He writes a series of young adult historical novels, specializing in more remote places and their history than the usual stuff that goes through Greece and Rome and so forth. They're meant for teenagers but quite interesting enough for adults. He mentioned Sylhet, so his next one must be set in Bangladesh."

"Is he a mutant like she is?" Natasha asked, giving Clint a hard look.

"Yeah, he is, but it's his business to share anything more than that. After the looks Tony was giving me about knowing about Kate, I'm not risking what he'd dole out as revenge if they don't want it shared." The archer looked toward the living room again, seeming relieved that Kate had stopped crying and was talking very quietly to her brother. Steve understood the feeling of relief.

He should have known better. No sooner than one sort of crisis had resolved than a new one reared its ugly head with JARVIS' next words.

"Captain Rogers, Kate, please come to the penthouse floor. Sir is in great distress."


End file.
